Today I’ve tried to make some chocolates!! First time ever… but the result is quite satisfying! ^^

Chocolates Cooking pan

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need:

♥ 125 gr of Chocolate (I prefer the dark one, but you can pick either brown or white chocolate)

♥ 75 gr of Butter

♥ 20 gr of Chopped Hazelnuts (you can do that by yourself, hazelnuts are easy to chop)

♥ 1 spoon of Sugar

♥ 1 egg yolk

And here’s how you can prepare your chocolates!

- First up: pick two casseroles, one smaller than the other. We’ll have to melt the chocolate with the butter, untill we have a liquid solution. In Spain we have a saying for that, it’s called “derretir al baño maría”. You fill the bigger casserole with water (only 1/4 of the casserole), we want the water to be hot, not boiling!

Al Baño María

- Then, pick the second casserole and mix the chocolate and butter, and put it on  the first casserole, as shown in the picture! And keep mixing it untill we have melt the delicious chocolate! (It’s OK to taste the chocolate… Just to be sure we’re doing it right, you know … well, Ok! Maybe tasting the chocolate it’s the fun part of cooking hahaha!)

- Then, pick another casserole, and mix the egg yolk, the sugar and the chopped hazelnuts, untill you have an homogeneous mixture!

chopped hazelnuts

- Now it’s time to pick your cooking pan, and pour the melted chocolate (only a little! We just want to create a thin layer of chocolate)

- After that, pour the mixture we’ve made (the hazelnuts, sugar and egg yolk), just a tinny part! It will be the yummy heart of the chocolates!

- And finally, pour a little bit more of chocolate, to cover the chocolate (if you have poured too much, you can remove some of it with a knife, as shown in the picture!)

Preparing Chocolates

- Well… it seems like we’ve done it! Now just leave the chocolates in the fridge so that it solidifies!

I hope you found the recipe usefull, it’s quick and easy to do, and a nice gift for your loved ones (I’m cooking these chocolates for my mum’s Bday!)

Now it’s your turn! Enjoy it!

It’s been so long since I last wrote! Well, in fact, I had almost forgotten I had a blog… and I still have many visits from followers!! Thanks for that I dare say I cannot write as I used to, due to my many duties this year! University, I started working on mornings and studying on afternoons… Really hard to get used to that rhytm!

That being said, I’m not sure about which theme I’ll be writing on my next post… I started a fashion blog, but droped it (it required too much time, which I didn’t have at the time), and I was thinking about starting a cooking blog… But I think I’ll just post my cooking recipes here! (For example, last week I made Muffins -delicious- and tomorrow I’ll be trying some chocolates)

Next up, I’m reading Cathedral of the Sea, from Ildefonso Falcones, really Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth‘ like.

So I’ll keep you posted, maybe you’ll see some changes in my blog soon!

Take care, xx!

Click to view slideshow.So yeah, I admit it, I really though Saw was about lots of blood, bloody murders and really really gross killings… but after watching a Saw marathon (from films 4 to 7!) I ended up thinking that it is more than that, and I even liked the films a lot! (not including the parts when I closed my eyes for the grossness of the scenes!)

I’m not gonna make any spoilers (I have friends who still haven’t seen Saw VII!) but it really was a good film and I enjoyed a lot the plot making and all the mystery involved! What I enjoyed even more is the extremly cool Saw decoration my friend Eric made (he’s such a freak, but in the good way ) So imagine whatching several terror films with all this arround u… pretty terrifying!!

So… I heard there’s going to be another Saw film, Saw VIII!! Well, they should… I mean c’mon, how do they leave us with that intrigue?? There HAS to be another one!^^

As said, not going to make spoilers… So go NOW to see it so that I can write! hahaha

Enjoy the film and don’t be too scared…

Lately it seems that my sitcomaholic’s blog has somehow turned into a cooking blog! well, interests change, and as far as I’m still following lots of tv series, I also have developed a new hobby, cooking! Some may say that cooking takes less time that following any series season? well I wouldn’t be so sure about that! ’cause I just spend this last day cooking PASTA! but hey, not just boiling some already cooked pasta and making a delicious sauce… I’m talking here about making pasta. From scratch.

So, first up! Music. I definetely must have some music on! Hopefully u’ll be now hearing some of my favourite cooking music But it’s your choice, now we go to the hardcore part: Begin with the paste!

Let’s see, some advice for begginers: don’t wear anything long-sleeved, ’cause u’ll be working with flour and eggs. Not a good combination with ur favourite clothes… Wear an apron if possible, and (if ur a girl) comb ur hair in a ponytail. Ur good to start now!

THE PASTE

You should calculate the measures depending on how many guests u’ll have… I started with 300g of flour and 3 eggs, wich I hope will be enough for 3 or 4 people (count one egg per person)! Pour the flour onto a wooden table, if possible (the table will become a mess, trust me!;) ) then, grab a hole into the flour, big enough so that u can beat the eggs there before mixing it all.  Pour the eggs into a hole, and add a touch of salt (marine, if possible), a spoon of olive oil, and a little touch of black pepper. After beating the eggs, u can start mixing them with the flour. And this is the messy part! U have to knead the paste, untill it becomes a rather solid paste. If it is too soft, or sticky, u must pour more flour, if it is too dry, add a touch of olive oil.

When u think ur paste is good enough, you have to let it rest a while, in general it’s about 30 minutes, but you can let it rest there more if you feel more comfortable. When you take it out, you can start working with your rolling pin, and knead it untill it becomes a soft and thin paste. Don’t worry if it gets really big, we can cut it in pieces later!

THE PASTA MACHINE

Now, it’s time to get the machine do a little bit of work! It’s a manual machine so we’re actually gonna be doing most of it, but anyway, it helps! First, you have to put the paste into the biggest space. The paste will become thinner everytime you let it slide trought the machine. Then, u’ll have to choose a shape. In my case, I chose to do Tagliattonni, so I used the squared looking space of the machine. Put the paste over there just once, and u’ll get your tagliattonni. Be careful ’cause it’s probable that the tagliattonni get sticky between them, so I advise to keep them appart from one another, and let them rest a bit, untill it’s time to boil them. The boiling time won’t be that long, it will only take between 1 and 3 minutes

THE SAUCE – PESTO

To do the pesto, just mince some albahaca leaves, and mix them with some nuts, garlic and salt, untill you have a uniform paste, and then add olive oil and parmesan cheese to the mix. The experiment went very well so I may try to do that again, but only if I have vacations ’cause it takes reeeally long to do all this… On the other hand, it’s delicious, so it is worth it in the end

Take care people! xoxo!

Here we have the typical post in which we think about all the marvelling things that have happened to us (and those that leave behind bad memories too)

In fact it’s been a pretty cool year… I’ve had someone to love, I’ve been loved, ‘been travelling a lot, shared great moments with my friends and lived new experiences… There’s the dark side too (not everything was going to sound so damn perfect right?)  I’ve been taking in too much work, which now I find dificult to handle…

New Year’s resolutions? For now, just pass all my exams (that by itself would already be like a miracle), practise more sport (I would love to finally find a running routine), and my little goal: become an english teacher. Not full-time, of course, ’cause I’ll still be at university, but I would love to offer some english classes, focused on preparing students for the Cambridge ESOL examinations (FIRST, CAE, and PROFICIENCY)… I’ve already got some ideas jotted down so maybe it won’t be such a unreachable target, but I have to take things slow. First, my exams (and yes, everyday I LOATHE law even more!)

Well people! Here in Spain it’s 2 hours for the big countdown… Hope u drink lots of champagne to celebrate and I wholeheartedly wish you an amazing 2011

Lots of Love! Happy New Year!!

Yesterday I just finished reading this book, I heart New York, by Lindsey Kelk. I didn’t even bought it, it went along as a present with the UK Glamour magazine, and I had it there over the corner… I began reading it, and yes, it’s a super girlish book (tell me about judging a book by it’s cover!) about this girl, Angela, who finds out her fiance is cheating on her (on her best friend’s weeding) and decides, out of the blue, to go to the first place that comes trhough her mind…. NY.

Angela finds herself being a role model for other newyorkers (mainly other girls she meets), for facing that huge break-up with bravery and travelling to the other side of the world. This other girls, Jenny, Erin, will help her make an amazing make-over, phisically and mentally, as she’ll find herself starting to date again (after years of being in a long-term relationship with the cheating bastard), and not only dating, but actually seeing two hot guys at the same time!

At first I thought it was just a book that would contain, well, the basics of a travel to NY! Bloomingdales, the super-busy underground, the Empire State, dates with hot guys… but isn’t that what we all want? what we all would want to live? Let’s face it girls, if we were to end up going to NY, all alone, you would just pray to end up just like Angela Clark! and through this book we are able to at least live it through Lindsey Kelk’s words! And I just literally loved this book, and remembered all the sensations I felt when I went to NY (even though I was only 15 years old!) because New York is just the best city in the whole world to live life-changing experiences!

I just have to say, reading this book makes you want to leave it all behind and take some decisions on the rush, like going to this magnificent city and be able to at least share some of the feelings Angela felt in her adventures!

I’m giving you the site of this author, http://www.iheartnewyork.co.uk , where you can even read Angela’s blog!Take care people!

I ♥ NY

Last day I tried a weird ingredient… candied onion, with a little toast of foie… as you can imagine, it was sooooo yummi! So, I got inspired! And therefore decided that I was going to create a little menu for lunch, composed only by appetizers… some little, delicious, salty appetizers!

Well, in Spain we have an expression for this kind of appetizers, they’re called “montaditos“, which mainly consist of little bread toast with all sorts of salty ingredients on it. I made some photos of the final menu, and I gotta tell u my inspiration was worth it! They were sort of delicious!

As I just love to make some dishes that contain foie, my first appetizer was a Toast with scrambled eggs and foie. It’s fairly easy to make and it just melts on your mouth. Firstly I got a baguette and I cut it into 20 little slices of bread, (don’t worry, we were 4 at the table and I was going to make 7 kinds of appetizers!), and I put them on a toaster. If you have one it’s really quick to use, if you don’t, u can also put the slices of bread into the oven, so that they get a little toasted to support the ingredients we’re going to add.

To create the toasts with scrambled eggs and foie, you just have to fry an egg, and then triturate it. The egg yolk is going to be useful because we’ll spread it into the toasts, then cover it with the egg slices, and then add some shavings of foie on top.

Another easy-to-make toast is just to take some foie and some candied onion. It may seem a rare combination, but it’s reeally yummi and tastes soooo good!

So, the third toast I prepared was simple, awesome, and I have to addmit it, I didn’t cook it all myself! Maybe in english it’s not the exact translation… I would say “Ensaladilla rusa” which in english maybe Russian salad, made from potatoes, vegetables and mayonaisse. Simply awesome.

My probably moooost favourite toast was mini pizzas. I got the bread, I spread some tomato sauce on it, and covered it with some slices of cheese, a touch of oregano, and some grated cheese. To the oven, please!

Let’s see.. another dish (healthier if you want to think it that way) it’s to take a tomato, and fill it whith cheese… the perfect cheese would me mozzarella, but as far as I just had grated cheese, I went along with it and it was pretty good!

And finally, my last tinny appetizer was minced meat whith candied onion and grated cheese. As weird as it may seem, the combination between meat and sweet went pretty well, and if you grill it, along with the mini pizzas, you’ll have just made a really nice menu and without cooking complications!

I really recomend to try some of these dishes, I particulary loved the scrambled eggs with foie and the mini pizzas.. but it’s your turn to try them!

Take care people!

LONDON

As I’m finishing my last days at the office I’m working this summer, I am beggining to think about what I should expect from September on. As the title says, it’s going to be hard…

At my university, when you get to the 3rd course, lectures are given from 15 pm to 21.30 pm.  That would mean I would have mornings free to myself, to work on my projects, homework… or (to be sincere) to deeply sleep until almost lunch. But that’s not going to be my case. Because if you happen to study in an university that only gives you one chance to pass your final exam, you’re doomed.  Most universities give u the opportunity to take the final exam on june, but then if you haven’t passed, u have a second chance on september (at least, that’s how it works here in Spain). But noooo, not my university. In my university, if u don’t pass your final exam, you have to repeat the whole subject next year, and you can’t miss more than 6 classes of the whole semester. And I’m studying a double major (MBA + LAW) so it is not exactly easy…

So, it appears that next year, I’ll just live in my university… because I have to repeat 3 subjects from 2nd year, plus all the new ones from the 3rd one. So mainly, one day I’ll start classes at 8 AM, and finish on 21.30 PM. Others I may be luckier and start on 10 AM, but I’ll finish on 21.30 as well.

And all that makes you wonder… what about socializing?  ’cause If I return home by 11 pm every day, there’s not much time to hang out with your partner, or meet any friends…

Yeah, these are my thoughts now… It’s just depresing to think about what’s about to come! Thank god in a few days I’m leaving to London on vacation…